Fun in the Sun(river)

We had soooo much fun in sunriver! Beautiful weather, good friends, fun times! Here are some highlights of our trip! We can't wait to go back for Labor Day weekend! YIPPPEEEEEEEEEE! Sorry these pics are all over the place...I'm still figuring out the whole format thing!

Look mom, we see a squirrel in the tree!

Family picture with our bike helmets!

Sunriver is always more fun with friends!

Pool time!

If you look really close at the bottom of the slide, you can see half of Megan's body flying out! (Daddy's getting ready to catch her)

Sore buns from lots o bike riding!

If you look closely at the back of the bike trailer, you can see a little Megan face poking out....sorry it's blurry, but I'm riding my own bike behind them and we were going up a hill...yes, I'm quite talented!

Little Katie Bugs on her own bike!

Fun at the park!

Going to feed the deer some bread

Getting hot in the hot tub!

Yes, these are dilly bars....here's a quick DQ tip if you are heading towards central OR, or back home....get the kids meal in Madras, then stop at the one just outside of govt camp to redeem the treat!!! DQ bliss!

Water Bottle Magic for my Curly Girl

My dear sweet youngest daughter gets soooo many comments and complements about her cute curly hair but I thought it was fair to show you all what I am greeted with most mornings....cute yes, but definitely high maintenance hair!

My curly girl in the morning

While it's safe to say that we most definitely use our share of mousse and conditioner after a bath, most mornings we turn to our dear friend, the water bottle....and let it works it's magic

And her after picture....(that is, after the water bottle.....) here she is picking her hair accessory for the day

I do hope the curls are here to stay!

Bye Bye Baby

My emotional reflective phase continues!



I had a garage sale this past weekend with my sister. I'm a big fan of going to them, so I was sure I'd have just as much fun having one of my own. The jury is still out about whether or not it was worth all the work involved, but the kids really enjoyed their lemonade stand (I think they drank most of it!) and I cleared about 7 bags/bins of clothes out of my spare bedroom, so mission accomplished. I also got rid of my baby stuff along with the baby clothes. It was sort of emotional seeing all my baby stuff spread out on tables and hung up. I had moments of panic....did I save enough of it.....should I keep this or that???? As people would come and buy things I would drift back to a memory of one of my daughters either playing with the toy or wearing a particular outfit....so I'm curious....is this normal?? Am I the only one that has gone through this process of "grieving" the babyhood of my children? I know that the future holds more fun and many more memories as my kids get older, but I admit.....I'm sad....it's really hard! I'm sure I'll get over it soon enough, but for now, I think I'll just look at more baby pictures and tear up a little!

Happy Birthday!

Where does the time go? My first baby girl turned 6 yesterday and I've been in contemplative mode all week! I've been looking at old pictures and remembering the day we brought her home from the hospital and little memories all along the way. I am so blessed at the young little lady she is becoming. She is sweet, nurturing, giggly, thoughtful and helpful. She loves special time with mommy (in fact she calls it ST, so Katelyn won't know) and playing with friends. She is very social and seems to make friends easily where ever we go.

Megan on her half birthday when she was three

Happy 6th birthday sweet daughter! I love you~

My big 6 year old girl!

Dinner's Ready!

A few months ago my wonderful friend Kristy invited me to join her cooking group. What a huge blessing this has been! I am not the world's best cook, not even close, so I appreciate some other input and ideas! I've been a huge fan of the retail establishments that have offered this for a premium, but when you do all the work yourself, you can save a huge amount!

This is how our group works: one person does the selecting of recipes and shopping, we gather in the evening about every three weeks and just jump in and cook! It usually takes 2-3 hours, and we try to leave the kitchen clean as we found it. We get cooking done as well as lots of quality girl talking time. I do admit, it can be taxing on the brain to have to calcuate recipes and multiply and divide and figure things out...by the end of the evening all our brains are fried, but who cares.....dinner's ready!

This is Kristy loading up everyone's boxes!

This is what I brought home!

Time spent: 3 hours

Money spent: $46

Not having to figure out what's for dinner for the next three weeks: PRICELESS!!!!!

Seeing the World through the eyes of a child

This phrase is so cliche and probably over used, but in just the last couple days I've had a new appreciation and understanding of seeing the world through the eyes of my children.





My three year old was in church with me during worship and it was so cute how she knew quite a few of the songs. There are fewer things more precious than hearing your children sing praise songs. So before I continue, I'll describe what she was seeing: A group of people up on stage, playing instruments and singing and behind them the stage along the back wall was decorated with big tall black panel/curtains. Anyway, the worship teams paused for prayer or announcements, I can't remember which, and Katelyn leans over and says, "Mommy, at night time do those people go behind the curtains to sleep?" OK, how precious is that??? Little minds always thinking about the world around them!





Then, just today, I was making us a picnic lunch and I was in a rush as usual to be out of the house for 9am swim lessons. I needed some lettuce for my sandwich and my almost six year old daughter offered to go get some from the garden. I was so excited to see this display of enthusiasm to help!!! I briefly explained to her how to pick it out and she responded, yes mom you get it from the root. I said yes, grab the lettuce leaf from the bottom and break it off. So, this is what she brought to the back door.....the whole lettuce plant, root and all.....God bless her. Guess it might have been a good idea to show her....oh well!

FORE!!!!!!!!

Here I am in my mid thirties and the only golf club I've ever had in my hands were the much loved Steakburger clubs. Something must be done about this!!! My husband is having too much fun with this sport, so I figured I'd give it a try, I mean how hard could it be to hit a little white ball in a hole?? Well, I have no idea how hard it is because I'm struggling with just making contact with the little white ball.

WHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have completed one lesson and the pro thinks there's hope for me....that remains to be seen. I have NO patience with myself. I expect to be good from the get go...not gonna happen! Another reason for taking up this sport is to get good enough to go out with my husband. Wouldn't it be nice to enjoy a sport/activity together?? Something we can enjoy together in retirement (if that day ever comes).

WHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's the sound of me missing the ball again, but wait, I'll try again............Contact, that's very exciting..........oh, but look, I just hit a good sized divit of grass out of my own front yard....lovely....maybe I can put it back before my husband sees.....too late, but he's not mad....whew!

So, I guess I'll keep at it and maybe I'll improve enough to show my face at an actual golf course, but for now I'm sticking with the privacy of my own yard!